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Benjamin Mendy described as ‘nicest person you will ever meet’ by ex-Man City employee
A character witness in the rape trial of Benjamin Mendy has labelled him the 'nicest person you'll ever meet', having worked alongside the defender at Manchester City

Benjamin Mendy described as ‘nicest person you will ever meet’ by ex-Man City employee

A former Manchester City employee has told jurors rape accused Benjamin Mendy is “the nicest person you will ever meet”.

Jodie Deakin worked at the Premier League side for ten years and helped players – including defender Mendy – with day to day jobs like paying their bills and opening bank accounts.

Ms Deakin, who no longer works for the club, said she had to deal with demands for payments that came through to Mendy’s mansion in rural Cheshire when he ran out of money to pay for renovations.

She said: “My role was to look after the first team players and the management staff in every aspect of their lives. Anything off-field.”

Ms Deakin added: “These boys don’t do anything for themselves.”

She gave evidence as a character witness as part of Mendy’s trial – where he is accused of raping and sexually assaulting a total of six different women on five different occasions at his home in Mottram St Andrew.

The French International denies seven counts of rape, one count of sexual assault and one count of attempted rape.

TOPSHOT - Manchester City and France footballer Benjamin Mendy arrives to Chester Crown Court in northwest England on August 15, 2022 for his trial for the alleged rape and assault of seven women. - Mendy, 28, who faces eight counts of rape, one count of sexual assault and one count of attempted rape, relating to seven young women, could see his playing career end in jail if convicted.
Mendy has been appearing at Chester Crown Court (Image: Getty Images)

Ms Deakin told jurors this afternoon she found Mendy, who she spoke to on a daily basis, was “extremely personable” and “a joker” who everyone liked to be around.

She said on team nights out, Mendy would “attract attention” from women because of his “flamboyant dress sense”.

She said: “You can tell a mile off he’s a footballer as they all have similar dress sense. He drips in designer. A lot of girls would be attracted to that look. A lot of footballers would get a lot of attention but Benjamin would get a lot of attention also.”

The court heard she had a key to Mendy’s home and would often see women there early in the morning when she came to pick him up for training.

Ms Deakin said she had never seen Mendy get aggressive, adding: “Never, that’s not Benjamin. I have never during my time with Benjamin seen him get aggressive with anything at all.”

Asked by Mendy’s barrister Eleanor Laws KC how she found him, she said: “The person I know Ben to be is the nicest person you will ever meet. He wears his heart on his sleeve. He comes across as a joke to everybody and he’s a really personable person but when you get to know him properly, he’s more an introverted extrovert.

“He could command a room and be at the centre of attention to mask anything he’s possibly dealing with.”

Manchester City and France footballer Benjamin Mendy arrives to Chester Crown Court in northwest England on August 10, 2022 at the start of his trial for the alleged rape and assault of seven women.
The French International denies seven counts of rape, one count of sexual assault and one count of attempted rape (Image: Getty Images)

Ms Laws asked the former PA: “Something people might think about footballers in this league of playing is that they may be arrogant, difficult, unpleasant to work with. What would you say about Mr Mendy?”

Ms Deakin said: “He’s none of the above. He’s not arrogant in the slightest. As I say he’s extremely personable and the kind of person everybody wants to be around in that industry, as he has a way of making people happy, making people comfortable.”

Asked if that was the case with every footballer she has worked with, Ms Deakin laughed and said: “No, not at all.”

She also told the court Mendy was generous, and she once saw him take off an expensive designer tracksuit and give it to a homeless person in Manchester.

The court heard on one occasion there were “a lot of people in the house” when Mendy was at training and Ms Deakin discovered a number of empty Rolex and Cartier watch boxes in his bedroom.

She told the court she organised for a lock, which have been described during the trial as ‘panic-room style locks’, to be fitted to the bedroom door.

She said: “I wanted [the lock] to be there so he had a bit of sanctuary, to lock people out and that was his safe haven.

Manchester City footballer Benjamin Mendy, leaving Chester Crown Court on the first day of his trial, where he is accused of eight counts of rape, one account of sexual assault and one attempted rape.
The trial of Mendy, which is scheduled for four months, continues (Image: Julian Hamilton/Daily Mirror)

“There was a fingerprint recognition function but it never got set up because to be honest I didn't know how to. We set a code for him.”

Ms Deakin also said she did not speak to Mendy specifically about issues he was having, but that she could tell he was upset as he would call more about issues relating to the renovation of his house.

She said: “If he didn’t have as many people around him that's when he would notice more faults in the house. He would say ‘I want to change the colour of the kitchen floor’ or ‘I want to rip out the kitchen and put in a new one’.

“He didn’t want the kitchen ripping out – he was probably a little bit bored and needed people around him so that was his way of reaching out.

“There were invoices with the house that were not being paid for. I know Benjamin was sending a lot of money to his family and as a result that was resulting in his bills not being paid at home.

“There were instances where letters would come to the house and they were demands to pay. I flagged it with his agent and I did say to him the bills had not been paid and he knew why the bills couldn’t be paid.”

Mendy’s co-accused Louis Saha Matturie, 41, of Eccles, Salford, denies six counts of rape and three counts of sexual assault relating to seven young women.

The trial continues.